At $299 unlocked, BLU Life Android phones look to make a dent in the market

Okay, we know what you're thinking. Right off the bat, if you hear about a $299 unlocked Android smartphone from a company that you've never heard of before, you assume there are some major downsides in the design that lead to such an inexpensive phone. But, Florida based BLU Products is looking to change that with three new handsets that it has just announced. BLU is looking to go around the traditional distribution system in order to offer quality products at lower cost, similar to what we've seen from Warby Parker.

The BLU Life One is the 5" offering, featuring an aluminum body measuring 144 x 73 x 8.9mm (5.7 x 2.9 x 0.35") with a 5" IPS HD display and Gorilla Glass 2, MediaTek's MT6589 1.2 GHz Quad-Core chipset, which is an ARM Cortex-A7 with a PowerVR Series5 XT GPU, and HSPA+ 41Mbps modem. It is also said to have a 13MP rear camera, a 5MP front camera, 16GB of storage, 1GB of RAM, SD card expansion, and a 2200 mAh battery. It will retail for $299 unlocked.

The BLU Life View is the phablet offering with a 5.7" IPS HD display. The other specs are the same as the Life One, except the rear camera is listed at 12MP. Also, the body of the Life View apparently only has an aluminum back panel, and isn't completely aluminum. The Life View measures 161 x 82 x 8.9mm (6.3 x 3.2 x 0.35") and has a 2600 mAh battery. It will also retail for $299.

The BLU Life Play is the "budget" choice and clocks in at just $229. The savings here come from lower quality cameras (8MP rear, 2MP front), no Gorilla Glass, only 4GB of storage, and a smaller 1800 mAh battery.

All of the phones will be running stock Android 4.2, and will offer advanced Dual-SIM, and Dual-Active functionality which allows users to make and receive calls on two SIM cards at the same time.

The devices are expected to start shipping the last week of April, and will be available through Amazon and other online retailers.

BLU Products, one of the fastest growing mobile phone manufacturers in the world announced today the new BLU LIFE Series of smartphone devices delivering stunning design and premium build quality with flagship performance. The BLU LIFE Series, which largely focuses on exceptional design, will be powered by MediaTek's MT6589 1.2 GHz Quad-Core chipset, which integrates a power-efficient ARM Cortex™-A7 subsystem, PowerVR™ Series5XT GPU, and HSPA+ 41Mbps modem bringing blazing fast 4G Speeds to consumers in the US.

The basis of incorporating MediaTek's MT6589 chipset is the power-efficiency and leading edge 28nm manufacturing, which result in incredible battery performance, lasting for several days without having to recharge – something users don't have today in the high-end smartphone segment, while still delivering on the high expectations, outstanding performance, and user experience required by consumers in a high-end smartphone.The BLU LIFE series of smartphone devices will run on the latest Android v4.2 Jellybean OS at time of release, and feature innovative, advanced Dual-SIM, Dual-Active functionality which frees users to seamlessly make and receive calls on two SIM cards at the same time. This feature enables higher user experience when traveling, or answering a phone call when doing data transmission - perfect for everyone, everywhere. Photos and videos come to life with spectacular clarity and rich, natural color on the vivid IPS HD displays incorporated in the BLU LIFE Series, resulting in unparalleled viewing angles and contrast ratio, for an incredible and brilliant viewing experience. Additionally, each of the BLU LIFE Series devices delivers on excellent image capture quality even in adverse conditions such as low light, or no light with advanced camera technology, featuring BSI sensors.The BLU LIFE series will start shipping the last week of April, and will be available unlocked throughout several US Online Retail partners such as Amazon.com. At the same time, BLU will also launch its initiative for industry leading customer service and after-sales support direct to consumers in the US.

"When conceiving these devices, we knew of the pressure and difficulty involved in creating something better than what was already notoriously available online today in the US for $299 unlocked. We are confident that not only have we achieved our objective, but at the same time surpassed it with the build quality, design, and performance of the BLU Life Series and we look forward to the positive customer response," said Samuel Ohev-Zion, CEO, BLU Products.

Life OneThe BLU Life One is built using a stunning solid aluminum body crafted with one of the most exclusive and difficult manufacturing processes available in the world today, resulting in an exceptional build quality and luxurious design. Featuring an IPS 5.0-inch HD display protected with marvelously curved scratch resistant Corning® Gorilla® Glass 2, the BLU Life One incorporates an exceptional 13.0 megapixel autofocus back camera, LED Flash plus HD video recording up to 1080p, along with a 5.0 megapixel front camera. Internal memory includes 16GB ROM and 1GB RAM, plus expandable microSD card slot for up to 32GB. Measuring 144 x 73 x 8.9mm with 2000mAh battery and with connectivity support for GSM Quad Band plus Tri-Band HSPA 850/1900/2100, the BLU Life One will retail for $299 unlocked through various websites in the US.

Life ViewThe BLU Life View was designed with an extremely thin and curved 8.9mm housing for comfortable usability as a large screen crossover device using an aluminum back door resulting in a luxurious high-end feeling. Featuring an IPS 5.7-inch HD display protected with a marvelously curved scratch resistant glass, the BLU Life View integrates a 12.0 megapixel autofocus back camera, LED Flash plus HD video recording up to 1080p, along with a 5.0 megapixel front camera. Internal memory includes 16GB ROM and 1GB RAM, plus expandable microSD card slot for up to 32GB. Measuring 161 x 82 x 8.9mm with 2600mAh battery and with connectivity support for GSM Quad Band plus Tri-Band HSPA 850/1900/2100, the BLU Life View will retail for $299 unlocked through various websites in the US.

Life PlayThe BLU Life Play was designed for a stylish and younger generation, looking for a sophisticated and refreshing design, different from the standard smartphones available in the market today. Featuring an incredibly thin 7.9mm design, the highlight of the BLU Life Play is the remarkable One-Glass- Solution touch panel technology combined with an IPS 4.7-inch HD display bringing to life the most eye-popping image reproduction available on any device today. The BLU Life Play combines an 8.0 megapixel autofocus back camera, LED Flash plus HD video recording up to 1080p, along with 2.0 megapixel front camera. Internal memory includes 4GB ROM and 1GB RAM, plus expandable microSD card slot for up to 32GB. Measuring 134 x 68 x 7.9mm with 1800 mAh battery and with connectivity support for GSM Quad Band plus Dual-Band HSPA 850/1900, the BLU Life Play will retail for $229 unlocked through various websites in the US.

About BLU ProductsBLU Products, founded in 2009, designs affordable, attractive and innovative mobile devices to suit a wide variety of consumer needs. Over six million BLU mobile devices have been sold in over 40 countries. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, BLU is one of the fastest-growing mobile phone manufacturers in the world. For more information, visit: www.bluproducts.com.

Yea. Las Vegas, Kansas city... And all the other major cities that theyve already refarmed to 1900. Dude you can't live in the middle of nowhere in some podunk town and complain that a carrier is slow to upgrade their network there. I find that amusing though. But seriously. Get with the program. Tmobile is almost done with the refarming.

Nothing like jumping to conclusions. I live in a CITY and no, Tmobiles network has not been refarmed here yet. It has not been refarmed in many places. And im not complaining about tmobile, I'm just disappointed that this phone doesn't cover more frequencies to work better on tmobile. If you're gonna jump into a friendly discussion, please bring something to the table instead of just trying to insult me.

It's an interesting thought, but honestly the vast majority of people who want a stock 4.2 off-contract phone are going to go Nexus if they're willing to venture away from the traditional model. The 5.7 and budget phones have a chance (slight though it is) only because they're different enough from the Nexus 4, but nothing about them seems compelling enough to choose this over the straight-from-Google phone unless you love that extra inch or that extra $70, although at least the storage is 16gb.

I appreciate the thought and effort these guys are putting forth, but for better or worse I don't feel like there's a lot of market share for them to even have a good chance to claim.

I can see two major problems coming with these handsets: bad upgrade policy (if they ever get one) and weak Cortex A7-based CPU. They come with stock 4.2, sure, and minimal customization "should" speed up updates, but we've seen that's not the case with small time manufacturers (oh hey there, huawei).

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